US paid Iran $1.3 billion in cash to settle old dispute

US paid Iran $1.3 billion in cash to settle old dispute | New York Post:
"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s $400 million payoff to Iran was followed by a second transfer of $1.3 billion, it was reported Tuesday.
President Obama took considerable flak for the first payment, which coincided with the release in January of four Americans being held by Tehran.
Critics charged that the move smacked of ransom, which the US has pledged never to pay.
The $400 million was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement with Iran to resolve a dispute over a failed arms deal signed before the 1979 fall of the shah.
But there was no word about what happened to the rest of the debt — $1.3 billion.
On Tuesday, The Weekly Standard reported that the second payment was also quietly delivered.
Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs Julia Frifield sent a letter to Congress on March 17, 2016, stating, “Iran received the balance of $400 million in the Trust Fund as well as roughly $1.3 billion representing a compromise on the interest,” according to the magazine.
This payment was likely made in cash, since the US has no banking relationship with Tehran.
Wooden pallets stacked with euros, Swiss francs and other currencies were flown into Iran in an unmarked cargo plane to cover the first $400 million.
“The reason that we had to give them cash is precisely because we are so strict in maintaining sanctions — and we don’t have a banking relationship with Iran — that we couldn’t send them a check,” Obama said in an Aug. 4 press conference.